Darkness slowly engulfs around you as you drive… It is a strange and unusual sensation, for those born and raised in the enclosed city of Masharas the night out here sure is bright. The light of the moon, unobstructed by the cliffs you are so used to, casts a beautiful silver light on your path. Despite a rocky start the car continues to hum ahead in a stady and constant pace, however fast you elected to go.
Serenity: "Turns out driving down a mostly straight road for hours on end is boring as hell."
Serenity: "Just… in case any one was curious."Serenity‘ holds back a yawn.As you drive towards the nearest larger city, according to a sign you saw earlier a city called "Sarneia" , you notice something very peculiar. You can’t say the plantlife has been vibrant in your travel, but you notice that whenever you come near a river (which which there were quite a few) the plants seem to die, in fact you haven't seen any beast yet, given the nighttime it's unsurprising, however.Harriet is, of course, having a nap.Anton is back to his chatty self on this trip. "Hmm-hmm-hmm. I wouldn't say that, Serenity. It was through the genius of our beloved companion that we built this dream together. Now I can cross driving across the country in an armed vehicle off of my life checklist~."Amal doesn't seem to mind, really. They just space out a bit after telling another story or two.You finally see in the distance the beginnings of the city, however. Scattered lights in the distance dot farms, most not even a road connecting to them, you see in the distance the lights of the buildings which refuse to sleep. It shouldn't take longer than another hour maybe, which will be good given how late it has becomeBut still, ahead of you what seems to be a… Toll gate, coming in just a few
Serenity: "Anton, that has nothing at all to do with how boring the process of sitting here, paying attention to my foot and staring ahead is."
Serenity: "Looks like we're finally at a good place to stop though."
Anton: "Then let fate take the wheel my dear. Your good friend Anton can drive!" He grins.
Serenity: "Yeah… maybe tomorrow."
Serenity: "When we aren't driving towards buildings."
Anton: "I do hope however that you have a compelling story on why we're driving an armed vehicle through another countries border."
Anton: "These guards up ahead will surely love to hear it~."As you approach closer to the gate you notice some movement, but at the time you arrive… You find out there's nobody, apparently? It's not a big obstacle of a gate, you're certain it's never been meant to stop anyone that's willing to use force to break through.
Amal: "Seems like the guards have better things to do."
Hughbert: "…Wait a moment. I think I had better explain."
Serenity: "Why would the care? It's not like they could tell at a glanc…" Serenity trails off, looking back over her shoulder at Hughbert for a moment.Harriet starts awake. "Huh? Whu? Are we there?"
Serenity: "…You should get some Not-A-Military-Uniform clothing."Serenity‘ rolls to a stop.Hughbert starts stepping out of the car, but then stops mid-descent and stares at the sleeping Harriet. "…Maybe someone else would be better suited to explaining the weaponry."
Anton: "Poor things. I can’t really blame them for hiding in the building. They're all cowering inside. Your invention truly is terrifying Harriet~."
Harriet: "Eh? Oh, yeah, I can totally dumb it down for them."
Anton: "Five, for the record."
Serenity: "Five… what? People?"
Anton: "Yes. They saw an approaching foreign vehicle with a gun on it and dove for cover."
Harriet: "Terrifying, you think so?" Harriet turns around towards the boot. "Did you hear that? He thinks you're terrifying."
Hughbert: "Right. Let's not set off any alarms the moment we step in, shall we? Is… the gun removable? Be prepared to offer to remove it if they deem it a condition for entry."
Serenity: "WHAT A BUNCH OF BABIES," Serenity shouts in response.Amal gives Harriet the most IMPRESSED grin.
Anton: "Perhaps our good friend in the suit can go parley with them?" He smiles at Hughbert.
Harriet: "I mean, I can totally remove it, I guess," Harriet pouts.
Serenity: "I'd just throw a tarp or something over it but I'm lazy."Serenity‘ emphasizes this point by slumping forward, crossing her arms over the steering wheel and then resting her head on it.Serenity` also laughs, just a little.
Hughbert: "Come with me…" He gestures to Harriet and climbs off the vehicle. "Excuse me!" he shouts to the tollkeeps, "Who is your manager at this station?"Harriet gets out of the car, follows Hughbert.Anton stretches before reaching into his backpack. He pulls out a lollipop and puts his feet up on the now unoccupied seat across from him.There is nobody on sight, a pane of glass the only way to look inside. You hear some whispers- A woman wearing rather simple clothes of an office worker comes out from a corner. She’s clearly shaken, but trying to stay steady "That would be me…" she looks at you, looks past you at the party "I suggest you do not try anything, we have already notified the guard station ahead"
Harriet: "Huh? No, look, we're not here to hurt you or anything."Anton scratches his head before glancing to the others left in the vehicle. "I wonder if I should get out and suggest they're escorting someone from the church since they have business with the Wise Five so the vehicle was armed."
Anton: "Kiiiiind of curious what they can come up with, though."
Hughbert: "Apologies for the misunderstanding. Lieutenant Hughbert Marcel of Masharas. We're here on a peaceful mission. It's just that literally the only vehicle we had available happened to have… THAT mounted to it, and our business is urgent enough that we lacked time and resources needed to remove it. Our mechanic can explain."
Serenity: "I mean, Hughbert's not an idiot, and it's not like five poeople are going to take over an entire town."
Serenity: "Can't imagine he'll have too much trouble."Harriet looks over to Hughbert, opens her mouth, thinks better of it, closes her mouth. She looks kind of grumpy about it, though.
Manager: "An… Official vehicle, you say? Hrm…"
Harriet: "Yeah, yeah, it's kind of a pain to get rid of. Like, whatever genius thought that thing up secured it really well."She thinks for a moment… She looks behind her "Wait a moment" and she heads over to the backIt takes a moment and you hear some whispering aroundHarriet shoots a glare to Hughbert while they're whispering. How dare you make her pretend this isn't her handiwork.Anton bites down on the lollipop before tossing it out of the vehicle. He glances at Serenity and Amal. "Seems they have it under wraps."You hear a whooshing noise and the sound of firewords- From the roof of the building a yellow flare fires off. It's actually quite dim, you probably couldn't make it out from too far away- Actually it's quite interesting- You almost can't see it from the wrong angle. How does it do that?
Serenity: "I gotta ask,"Anton gestures to the signal flare. "There we are."And then the manager comes back to the front "Well, we were told to expect someone from Masharas around this time. I will ask that you would wait until an official escort can come for you"
Serenity: "What's with you and Cor always having those things in your mouth anyway?"Hughbert counterglares, giving Anton an interesting display of two conflicting auras. Maybe you should have mounted something more suitable for a peace mission, like a dispenser of delicious frozen treats.Amal nods. They believe in Harriet and Hughbert!Harriet continues glaring, because how was she supposed to know they wouldn't like her genius gun- oh wait there's the manager. Harriet turns and nods. "Okay, sure, thanks."
Manager: "Honestly, with the way things are showing up with that sounds really unwise"
Anton: "I tend to be more successful on a sugar rush. That may just be superstition though. It's not just Cor and I. Every Divine Oracle has the quirk."
Manager: "Just two weeks ago there was an actual attack here from Orsis troops and we're not even a road that connects to them"
Hughbert: "I wholeheartedly agree. However, we determined it was necessary to get the job done, and that we would be able to explain the circumstances."
Harriet: "Hey! That gun is a marvel, you know! I- think whoever made it made it from spare parts and nothing…" Harriet trails off. Nice save.
Manager: "Then if you would maneuver out of the road into the waiting area? I'll… I'll go open the gate to you"
Serenity: "Weird. Usually people just smoke."
Serenity: "I guess that's less annoying for other people though."She walks around and heads out, she kind of comes to you the car. She looks it over and then heads over to a small parking space off to the side, unlocks the gate for you to go through. She's seriously eyeing the gun
Serenity: "Y'know,"
Serenity: "It's turned off and facing backwards, ain't gunna bite you."
Hughbert: "Again, terribly sorry for the scare our unusual equipment gave you." He salutes, then walks back and relays the instruction to Serenity. "We'll have an escort shortly. Harriet, can you at least unload the ammunition for now? Wait, nevermind, it'd be better if you just didn't touch it at all."
Serenity: "Escort…? Man."
Harriet: "Demands, demands, demands. They should be impressed!"
Harriet: "It's just a gun, it's not a big deal."
Serenity: "Are they going to throw a hissy fit over us having force gears too?"Amal glances over at Serenity and chuckles a little.Serenity‘ turns the car back on and maneuvers it on over to the waiting spot, though.
Anton: "There, there Harriet. Now you too understand how genius is misunderstood in each generation. I’m sure one day you'll be able to build an even bigger gun and show it off to Akavir."Harriet folds her arms and grumps. "I would've made them a gun too if they wanted one. That's the best way to make friends with anyone."Amal gives Harriet a ludicrous thumbs-up.
Anton: "I would take you up on that offer, but I'm afraid I've been banned from firearms." He sighs wistfully.
Hughbert: "I did what I had to in order to ensure the least chance of us getting shot or arrested. Please consider making a more appropriate attachment for the next mission."It doesn't takes too long and you see an armored car coming by. They stop a small distance away from you, four men step out armed with shotguns, each with a sword on their back, they stay a distance away but don't assume a threatening position yet. One of them peels off and goes talk to the manager. At this moment you realize their car is very banged up, like it must have seen action recently and haven't been fully repaired yet.
Serenity: "Not takin' the bait."The one that went to talk to the manager heads over to the party "Good evening, i'm sergeant Ruiz"
Ruiz: "I'm sorry for the trouble but everyone's been on edge lately" he looks over your vehicle "Did they seriously send you guys in with that? I suppose it matches what we heard though" he looks back at Hughbert "If you wouldn't mind us accompanying you? Mostly for the sake of the poor people here"Hughbert re-introduces himself to the sergeant. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. And, as I said to the toll manager, apologies for the unusual equipment. We mean no harm, we understand fully."
Amal: "Don't worry about it! I mean, it's a little strange to see something like this in the best of times."
Anton: "We've all been set upon hard times lately, I'm afraid. You aren't the only ones in danger of a skirmish on the road."
Harriet: "Yeah, sorry you can't appreciate it." Harriet is Still Grumpy.
Ruiz: "Sure is. C'mon, just follow us. Do you already know where you're staying at?"
Serenity: "Uhh…"Serenity‘ glances over at Anton and Hughbert.
Ruiz: "My information about you didn’t actually include where you were going"
Hughbert: "Could you take us to…" Hughbert opens a notebook, flipping through his mission notes. "A man named Judas… Of the Wise Five."
Ruiz: "Hrm… Well, at least you're in the right city, ahaha" he shakes his head "His office is closed this late, though"Anton smiles at Ruiz. "I have some documents for him. I'm a priest of the Masharas church."
Ruiz: "If you want, though, I could drop you off a nice place to stay the night and give you the directions to get there? There's actually a place nearby the Western Circle that should just do it"
Hughbert: "We've had a long day on the road, and we would be grateful. Thank you, Sergeant."He nods, and motions for you to follow. He boards his vehicle and leads the waySerenity‘ follows after.The way into the city isn’t difficult, the streets are rather empty this late at night. He takes you through the streets- You're not used to navigating streets this cramped and confusing, and leads you to a small hotel at the base of a hill. You see at the top of the hill what looks like one of the biggest trees you ever saw, it probably is so because there's an entire three-story building constructed around it.
Hughbert: "If you've had your fill of sleep on the road, Harriet, perhaps you could play around with their vehicles as a show of goodwill. They look like they could use it, and it might raise the chance of successful peace talks to show them support."Serenity‘ mumbles something about crappy city planning and backward no-car towns as she drives.
Serenity: "…Is there giant ass tree growing out of our hotel?"
Serenity: "Or whatever that is up there."
Harriet: "Yeah, yeah." Harriet does seem to brighten up some at the idea of fixing something, though.
Anton: "It would seem they take nature preservation seriously here."
Serenity: "I guess we’re stopping here."Now that you notice that something about it makes you pay more attention around- And you notice that though the street itself is paved the sidewalk is made of dirt, or would be if not for carefully trimmed grass instead of pavement. Every street has trees in it, except for the most campred ones where there's bushes instead. Most trees are fruit trees, even. The grand majority of the houses also have vines growing in the walls
Anton: "A shame that none of us can talk to trees."Serenity‘ parking in front of the building.
Serenity: "Eh."
Serenity: "If they’re anything like piles of ragnite all they'd do it mumble the words sunlight, growth and maybe water all the time."
Amal: "You see that kind of thing a lot around here. They're trying to take advantage of every possible bit of arable, uncorrupted land."Ruiz's car stops ahead of yours and he stops down "No, that's the Western, Judas' office and the town hall" (it's actuall yat the top of the hill, you're in the base) he points to a very modes ground level building you're nearby "This is the little hotel, it's cheap even"Anton moves in to pat Ruiz on the shoulder. "Now you're speaking my language, my man! Cheap is a tourists best friend~."
Harriet: "Hey, sarge, you want me to take a look at your car? I can totally fix that thing."Serenity‘ figured that out eventually, but was being a spoiled well off kid and assuming the ’nice place' was the larger building and not the dinky little one they're parked in front of now.
Ruiz: "Figured you'd like it. Anyway, tell them you're with me and they should get you a fine room-" he looks at Harriet "Ahaha, maybe later, it's much too late now. Doubt you can get it back in working order, though, we haven't had the time or resources for it" "
Serenity: "Anton you're not supposed to cheap out when buying things for other people, that's bad manners."Harriet gestures to herself with a thumb. "I'm Harriet Babbage! There's nothing I can't fix!"
Harriet: "Anyway, I totally napped on the way here, so I'm cool."Ruiz shakes his head "Nah, thank though. Honestly I get the feeling that if you start you won't stop"
Anton: "Oh my, Serenity. Are you suggesting that you want to stay in my room? How bold!"
Ruiz: "And I want to go to bed sooner rather than later, so I gotta get back to the post"Hughbert salutes the sergeant. "I'll book us what we need, then. Sergeant Ruiz, I wouldn't underestimate her."
Anton: "I'm afraid I cannot break poor Amal's heart, however."He taps on the window of his vehicle, waking up the driver who fell asleep right there, he looks at Hughbert "Good luck then, and have a good rest" he says, before departing
Serenity: "…" She sighs. "I guess that was an easy set up huh? No I ment you're payin'."
Harriet: "Oh, fine," Harriet huffs. "I guess I'll just go to sleep, then."
JayM: For what's worth they do offer double and triple rooms, butAmal cracks a smile.
JayM: It's really not of any importance right now. It's sufficient rest, and for whatever reason those guys are none too fazed about your car (maybe because they're used to hosting military people).
JayM: So let's have a Brand New Day, shall weYou're woken up not by the sound of the bustling street or birds chirping, but it appears that a woodpecker has decided to build residence somewhere very close by. Yet you could not by any means identify where the noisy little thing is. It's almost eight in the morning and there's some good tasting but otherwise somewhat scarce breakfast avaiable
JayM: (at no additional cost even)
JayM: I'd point out here, in case you had even used anything, that this recovers HP/MP but isn't a Ressuply. But that's meaninglessOutside, there's already some people out in the streets. There's now a flag raised on top of the Western Circle building
Serenity: "If I find that bird… I'm gunna shoot it."
Anton: "I admit I didn't think it was possible to cause a bigger uproar than Harriet did in less time, but you've exceeded all of my expectations Serenity!"
Serenity: "It's been so nice and weirdly quiet, until that Goddess Damned bird."
Serenity: "What?"
Anton: "Foreign ambassadors fire rifle outside embassy. Todays news~."
Serenity: "Haven't found it yet."Harriet is still eating a slice of toast she'd grabbed from the breakfast booth. "Birbs are awvul."Anton sizes up the hill before shaking his head. "At any rate. I'll see you in a bit!" He revs up his force gear and does the climb to the top of the hill the easy way.Serenity‘ holds her arm out, making finger guns in Anton’s direction and following his arc a bit, before shrugging and dropping her arm.
JayM: Doesn't he make such a graceful arc?
JayM: Either way
Serenity: "Whenever the rest of you are good, I guess." And she'll be drinking coffee until then.Anton arrives at the top of the hill before anyone else, that avails him nothing as he is not granted passage into the building. Not without an appointment at leastAnton has documentation from the Pope and everything. :(
Amal: "I think it's nice to see signs of life."The entrance has a guard station, of course, and leads into a rather sumptuous hall adorned with potted plants and has a rather cushy looking front desk. You arrive there in time to see Anton waiting fornorly as he has, in fact, no longer the letter from the Pope in his hands. But that's not a bad thing, within moments the clerk returns with the letter in their hands still sealed, but you can see the seal is not green instead of the paper-white before "Seal's legit" they say, handing it back to Anton "Ah, is this the rest of your group?"Anton gives a salute to the party. "Of course. I came by early to reduce the wait."
Clerk: "Good, Master Judas happens to be free at this moment, if that would be convenient to you. I've already verified the authenticity of your message" they pull out a badge for each one of you "Please wear those while inside" it says visitor "Amal will eventually follow the rest of them up the hill the hard way, of course, when they're done with breakfast. It's ANYONE'S GUESS where they slept or whom they creeped on. They stayed up late and woke up early!Serenity‘ stares at the clerk for just long enough for it to be awkward, before pinning the badge to the sleeve of her jacket.Harriet pins the badge on her vest.Anton attaches the pin to the front of his cloak.It doesn’t takes long before you're shown the way to Judas' office. It's surprisingly easy to access and doesn't goes through any restricted areas. Once you get there the one that guided you heads in first, announces you, heads out and nods to you for you enter.Inside, the office is certainly comfortable looking, large windows through which filter enough sunlight to make artificial lightning meaningless- No, not just that but you see translucent glass tubing in the ceiling that contains some form of liquid that glows light natural sunlight. The office has spaces to sit, a table for meetings and there it is, the office desk where Judas is at. Unlike your own leaders he looks certainly well awake and rested, his greying hair well trimmed and styled in a stern way but it's waist length is a little surprising. The room has austere decorations if not for the potted trees at all four corners of the roomAnton steps into the room and immediately frowns at the lack of a treat bowl.Judas looks at you as you enter "Ah, so that's who you are. I have to admit your Divine Oracle doesn't makes it easy to know who she's sending"Hughbert walks in, badge pinned to his officer's jacket, and salutes.Serenity‘ squints at the ceiling.
Judas: "Either way, it’s a pleasure to meet you, i'm the Wise Man Judas Malferes"
Serenity: "That some kind of chemical mixture, or like, moss or something…?"Judas looks up "Oh, that? Yes, actually. It refracts light very well to the point it can tunnel sunlight from the outside to the inside"
Amal: "…woah. That's pretty impressive."
Serenity: "Yes to…?"Serenity‘ takes a seat.Harriet takes a seat, too. "Interesting!"Anton takes a seat chewing at his lip.
Judas: "To being a chemical mixture"
Judas: "Ninety percent water, some chlorides I think? Not my area of expertise, sadly"He chuckles "Definitely the right people. At least I hope you are the help she promised"
Serenity: "Aha."
Amal: "That’s the gist of it." They smile. "In times like these, we have to turn towards each other, don't we?"
Judas: "Definitely"
Judas: "Well" he looks at the party "You people aren't the most fond of the whole diplomatic bullshit I bet so how about we get down to business"Hughbert leans forward in his seat. "Right. Please fill us in on what needs to be done."
Judas: "Though I was going to participate on Aldiva's peace summit either way, that's not quite the case for the other four, we're all having quite a few difficulties, myself included, and as always one's own kin often comes first. Unfortunately given the five of us are not quite working under a singular rulership I couldn't give you details on what troubles all of them, but as for my part"
Judas: "You probably noticed a great amount of dead trees by rivers on your way in, haven't you?"
Hughbert: "Not just the trees… Even the grass was long gone."
Judas: "Well, that's because the cataclysmic storm managed to get our rivers completely tained with whatever it was in that storm mud, and well, we've been trying to do something about it. And my particular problem comes from trying to stem the spread of toxicity"
Judas: "We've verified that the toxicity comes from some form of metallic particles that have been found in the water, for now we believe it's lead"
Judas: "And the damn thing's spreading through the land through the underground water layer. Meaning we've been building artificial barriers, and that's where we're having problems"Amal nods, listening along closely- then frowns, pinching the bridge of their nose. "That'd do it… Ugh, that won't be easy to clean up."
Judas: "Particularly, delivering supplies to the construction sites and weather-proofing those sites as well as they need to perform deep digging to reach the water layer"
Serenity: "Ah. Yeah you guys kinda sound fucked. S'good issue to get worked up over."
Judas: "I've been told that you have quite good technical skills as well as some experience dealing with aggressive agents, and given where you're from i'm certain your technical skills are just what we need."Harriet taps a curled finger to her chin. "Lead, huh…? Well, don't worry. I've never met a problem I haven't been able to fix!"Serenity‘ nods towards Judas
Judas: "On that same token some of the… Less fortunate of my people have certainly grow desperate like cornered beasts… That lash out at their own healers. In a few sites the local populace has made the delivery of supplies very difficult."
Judas: "I don’t blame them, not at all, i'm sure you'd rather first have a roof of your head tha nsee a large apparently pointless construction happening but a kilometer away"
Judas: "Which isn't to say we aren't trying to help but… Priorities. First we need to make sure they're not all going to die of lead poisoning from their own waters before moving them out of disaster shelters. Of course I got no idea why some of them are this well armed, I suspect outside forces trying to stir up truoble, maybe the Recovery Movement, I don't know."
Amal: "Recovery Movement?"
Serenity: "I mean, if I was an id -" Realizing she's talking outloud and stops herself.
Judas: "So the plan is get you on the crew heading to one such place, you get them there safely and watch and assist the construction"Judas nods at Amal "The Recovery Movement…" he sighs "The corruption of the youth by the tales of old, I say. People who are… Certainly fascinated with a lot of our ancient history, who are trying to 'recovery the old glory'…"
Amal: "Oh, dear."
Judas: "Look i'm fine with being proud of your homeland, I mean hell I am, but those people… They've been fed only the good parts. They forget a lot of things we left behind were for good reason"
Judas: "And it all began in the Central Circle… That one little town…"
Amal: "We have a word for that, in Rissan. 'walking backwards into the future.' Good way to run into something ass-first, as far as I'm concerned…"
Judas: "It's kind of ironic that the city that's basically been the locus of change in the country is now the headquarters of a traditionalist movement… Using of course the rethoric about fighting the traditionalists that stole away their legacy"
Judas: "Fine phrase, that. They've not been too much a problem to myself, where they've been aggressive the Land Wardens have manged to deal with them well enough and they're otherwise silent here, but still"
Serenity: "So…"
Judas: "So, are you up to going along with one of hte construction crews?"
Serenity: "Help seal off the taint, see about extracting lead from the water, maybe beat up some idiot kids."
Serenity: "Doesn't sound that hard…?"Anton looks like he's seriously about to nod off.
Harriet: "Yeah, sure thing. We'll keep them safe."
Judas: "Hopefully shouldn't be"
Judas: "Good, when are you good to depart? We have a crew leaving today and another tomorrow"
Serenity: "Nowish."
Hughbert: "The sooner, the better."
Judas: "Alright, i'll get in contact with the Stone Wolves and tell them about you- Right, the civil service agency is called Stone Wolf, dunno why but it's always been that way"Judas does something under his desk and you hear a bell in the distance
Harriet: "Oh, by the way, where's the Arklight university? Talking to your engineers on this might help us figure out a solution."
Judas: "Oh, Arklight? Yeah it's here in the Western Circle but it's got it's own little city about four hours north"
Judas: "Hrm… I wonder if that thing works…"
Judas: "Well, we do have a radio here you can use to contact them, but it's a little unreliable. That said, it's fast"Serenity‘ perks up, looking more interested than she’s been in… well since the teleporter things. "Huh, you guys got radios here?"
Harriet: "Might be worth asking them what's up, too."
Judas: "Yes, the Central Institute of Science has been experimenting and researching them, as part of that they've furnished the universities and central government buildings with one"
Harriet: "That's really cool," Harriet grins.
Serenity: "Right on."About now a woman in a fancy suit knocks on the door and heads in "Sir?" Judas looks at her, looks at the party "This is Violetta, my assistant. She'll take you to the Stone Wolf office and to the communications room" he looks at her "If you could, please?" she nods "Certainly"Serenity‘ stands up, and gives Anton a shove as she heads for the door.
JayM: Honestly dealing with the Stone Wolves isn’t going to be a hassle, you just need to figure out where and when to link up with the construction crew since you got your own vehicle. Which boils down to meeting with the caravan in three hours in the west exitAnton jolts awake before quickly glancing around the room. He gets his bearings and gets up as smoothly as he can.
JayM: As for calling up Arklight, what do you wanna discuss?Harriet pretty much intends to grill them about the specifics of what they're doing to fix the lead problem, get technical details out of them, what they've already tried and failed, that sort of thing. You know. Nerd stuff.Serenity‘ honestly doesn’t really have a plan for that or seem to care much, but she *does* spend a lot of time fiddling with the machine it self, curious how well the signals work outside of the mountains.
JayM: Sginal's surprisingly bad
JayM: That said you're certain the antenna has a subpart junction with the radio, which is also underpowered
Serenity: "Uugh I wonder if it's because it's closer to the ground…? Or their antenna is shit."
Harriet: "I could fix it," Harriet suggests.Amal eyes the antenna curiously, but… Harriet's probably got it under control.Serenity‘ has the back of the things opened up in a matter of moments, before pulling out some smaller tools. "No way you got the car and railgun, this is mine."
Harriet: "Oh, fiiine." Harriet grins. "She’s all yours."Harriet sits down and watches Serenity, but she's also thinking real hard about something herself, too. Watching science helps her think.
Serenity: "Holy shit."
Amal: "What's up?"
Serenity: "Uh nothing, just their radio tech is super crap. Not entirely sure whoever made this even knew what they were doing."Serenity‘ digs around her in pocket for a moment, before pulling out a small tube of something and using it to coat the connects inside the machine. She then scribbles down "NEED TRICE AS MUCH JUICE" on a scrap peice of paper and skewers it on the anntenna and replacing the case. "More or less fixed the impedance matching, but I can’t do anything about their power source."
Serenity: "Should be a bit better now though."
JayM: There's a lot less white noise!Harriet snaps her fingers and mutters to herself: "Magnets."
Serenity: "Huh?"
Serenity: "Oh for the lead."
Harriet: "Yeah it just hit me." And Harriet relays her plan for an automatic collection system to the research centre over the newly-improved radio line.
JayM: They are ecstatic to hear about it!
JayM: They ask for detailed documentation of how the field effort goes, tooHarriet wants to make the mixture more magnetic and use ragnite-powered magnet collection systems to automate the process while still being modular enough to ship out to rural places, basically. And there's a bunch of stuff in there about slowing down the problem until construction crews can get there. You know. Nerd stuff.Harriet does, of course, promise them detailed reports!
JayM: With that, you now have a bold and daring plan on how to solve the toxicity problem!
JayM: And the hour of departure approaches, there's time enough to chill a little and maybe eat something before departing
Serenity: "Okay Anton."Anton laments as he exits the building, a hand pressing to his chest. "Here I was, unable to sleep last night filled with anticipation for this meeting. The very prospect of such decadence… to learn what sweets a foreign nation serves to guests. My mouth could barely contain itself! To learn they do not serve guests treats… it goes straight to my vulnerable heart."Hughbert scribbles down some notes in his notebook about the possibilities of magnetizing water, mumbling something about potential arts applications…
Serenity: "If you promise not to fall asleep - who the hell falls asleep in the middle of a meeting with a foreign dignitary? Worst OR Canadiate - then you can drive until we see the contruction location."
Harriet: "But you have candy of your own," Harriet points out.
Amal: "Maybe it's like… we have to solve their problem for them, and -then- they'll reveal the secret of the delicious treats of their nation." They pat Anton on the shoulder comfortingly.
Hughbert: "If you expect to receive candy, why not begin by offering some of your own?"
Amal: "Mmm, that's an idea! Maybe you should start the cultural export of the traditional Masharan lollipop!"Anton scratches at his chin before nodding sagely. "Yes. Yes, I suppose that would be the proper way to do things. As for you my dear…" He points a finger at Serenity. "Challenge accepted~." He smiles.
Serenity: "Just for my own curiosity."
Serenity: "Actually nevermind that'll just encourage you." Serenity shakes her head before climbing into the passanger's side.Harriet piles into the back.
Serenity: "Pedal on the right makes you go, pedal on the left makes you stop. Stick to your right shifts gears, put it in first before giving it gas, increase it as you speed up. Not that complicated."And then ready for their adventure, drawing a few odd stares as they drive their armed car through the city streets, they finally meet up the crew at the west exit. It's actually quite a caravan, two threaded trucks, a rather large transport car that seems like an armored variant of an animal transport and… What in the hell is this thing, it's small but it has this thing that looks like a roller in front of it except it's made of a million cutting blades. The roller of blades, surprisingly, folds up and back into the vehicle's back giving it a much smaller and, after the implement is covered with some strong tarp, safer frame. Actually now that you stepped closer you realize there are large manipulator arms that have been strapped to the vehicle that are clearly not part of the original design, they have large shovels
JayM: Why did they even bat an eye at your car?Serenity‘ was wondering that herself, honestly.Harriet clasps her hands together. "Oh, you’re all beautiful!"A guy with hair the color of his passion walks up to Harriet, grinning "Isn't it?"
Serenity: "Also… stay *behind* that thing."
Harriet: "Yeah! I'd love to get a good look at that thing sometime." Harriet grins to him.He looks at Harriet "You're the Masharas people? Good, i'm Flake, leader of this team. And that, that's the Weed Eater, your friend's right stay behind it. It's such a beautiful thing but she's angry"
Serenity: "…"
Serenity: "Wait I'm sorry."
Harriet: "Harriet, Harriet Babbage. You've got problems and I've got solutions."
Serenity: "You're name is Flake?"
[OOC] Serenity: your^Anton stage whispers to Serenity. "(I think Wise Five is a lot worse, honestly…)"He looks at Serenity "Uhn…" he scratches behind his head "The actual name is dumber. Look, I have parents, okay?"
Serenity: "Wow."
Serenity: "I'm so sorry for you."He gives you a deadpan stare "Just don't do the same to your kids, okay?"
Serenity: "Yeah okay."Flake sighs, shrugs "Now that it's out of the way, let's get going shall we? If anything happens stay behind Weed Eater, she was a war tank in a previous life" he turns around "Alright everyone! We're moving out!" he heads on ahead and jumps on Weed Eater, he's driving itThe travel will take time, not an excess of it, six hours of travel with the slow moving large vehicles
JayM: Yet you are not going to make it there in those six hours
Hughbert: "We will have your back if anything does happen." He looks over to Harriet, nodding to the gun, and giving the most begrudged nod and grin he can muster.Harriet flashes Hughbert a thumbs up and an I told you the gun was useful look.As a storm rolls in the travel slows down severely… Lightning strikes across the skyAt some point, Flake shouts louder than thunder "ATTENTION CARAVAN. HALT ORDER. I REPEAT, HALT ORDER"
JayM: Though he does not shouts this, the echo of his voice can still be heard "Shit!" -
Serenity: "Okay Anton. When the people in front of you slow down, you need to slow down. When you hear a loud, scary noise, you need to *also* not slam your dasmn foot into the ped - STOP! BREAK! Other pedal you idiot!"
JayM: The tension of the air feel heavy, you know what's ahead.
Anton: "Y'know, most of these problems could be solved if we just installed a bigger version of my boots force gear to the vehicle…"
JayM: And you are ready
[OOC] JayM: +5 XP